Public innovation should be an icon in Baltimore, like crabs or snowballs

What you might believe about your local tech world, from its corners of innovation and invention to manufacturing, coworking and entrepreneurship, all depends on when you got into it.

If you entered the tech industry before February 2009, when Technical.ly’s first article was published, then your view on whether or not a community existed — one with both experienced technologists and entrepreneurs and their aspiring peers — might’ve been bleak.

Before Technical.ly launched, you may have spoken to your peers, if you could find them without our guide to innovation economy events, about how tired you were of paying for national business and tech news, and how Baltimore needs a focused but quirky-voiced local outlet to focus on who’s changing its economy. And you wouldn’t have been wrong.

You would have had to wait until 2012 when Technical.ly launched in Baltimore. I started as the publication’s lead reporter in this region a little over a year ago, just over a decade since it started covering Baltimore.

Now, my time as a staffer here is coming to an end.

It’s so hard to say goodbye

If you began exploring tech, startups or innovation in early 2023, you probably came across much of my coverage.

Perhaps you encountered it through collaborations I facilitated with support from my editor Sameer Rao, involving pieces from budding storytellers at organizations like CHARM: Voices of Baltimore Youth or Wide Angle Youth Media, along with other guest contributors. Together, we’ve strived to offer diverse perspectives in our coverage.

“Our city government is *trying* to make things better for its citizens. It might take time and it might not always be perfect.”

In that last year and some change, I’ve covered everything from deep dives into local accelerators; our coveted lists of RealLIST Connectors, Engineers and Startups; our winning the Economic Development Administration’s Tech hubs designation; to one of the ecosystem’s deepest losses. Between classrooms, ribbon cuttings, initiative launches and panels, I’ve been here for so much.

If I haven’t already said so in person: Thank you to the Baltimore tech and innovation ecosystem and its many people for welcoming me with open arms and trusting me with your stories.

What’s next, Alanah?

I won’t be far! I’m joining the Mayor’s Office of Performance and Innovation (OPI) and i-team as its chief storyteller. Cool title, right?

So I’m staying in Baltimore and plan on playing no part in the current depopulation trend. Since 2017, the i-team has used data and human-centered design to develop solutions to some of the city’s biggest challenges. You might remember the CleanStat dashboard or OPI’s design lab series.

At the end of 2023, Mayor Brandon Scott announced the expansion of the i-team and its new leadership under Terrance Smith, a self-identified native Southerner from Mobile, Alabama. With a decade of experience working with local governments, Smith also serves as the Public Innovation Fellow at the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University. He’ll be my new boss at OPI.

Balancing your trust and ‘rightful cynicism’

Like perceptions of their tech ecosystem, Baltimoreans’ views of their city hinge greatly on their personal experiences. How someone moves through a place is shaped by social determinants: birthplace and timing, residence history, educational background, influential figures and lifestyle habits. During my interviews with the i-team, I emphasized the importance of nurturing trust between Baltimore’s city government and its residents.

Even though people in Baltimore may not know it, our city government is *trying* to make things better for its citizens. It might take time and it might not always be perfect. As we build toward that balance of citizens’ trust and rightful cynicism toward Baltimore City government, my role, in part, will be to leverage my background and experiences to help reach the goal of humanizing that government.

My time at Technical.ly reaffirmed that people in Baltimore are and have always been innovative, inventive and forward-thinking. Some of those people work in city government. But if everyone cringes when they hear or read the words “city” and “government together,” how will anyone ever understand the impact of what’s being innovated within city government to improve the lives of Baltimoreans?

I’m eager to bring the same level of care I brought to my coverage at Technical.ly to City Hall. Wish me luck!